Brand, Clippers hand Sonics embarrassing loss

Brand had 22 points and seven rebounds and Sam Cassell added 21
and seven assists as the Clippers delivered a thorough beating
to the sluggish Seattle SuperSonics, 98-76, for their fifth win
in their last six games.

Chris Kaman collected nine points and 15 rebounds for Los
Angeles, which built such a commanding lead entering the fourth
quarter that it held on for a double-digit victory despite
scoring just nine points in the final 12 minutes.

"Tonight was just one of those games," SuperSonics coach Bob
Hill said. "We didn't have a lot of energy early on, but we
just couldn't hit a shot. We couldn't get a second shot in, we
couldn't score in the paint, we missed free throws. We just
played poorly."

The SuperSonics could not get anything going offensively for
most of the game, scoring a season-low 31 points in the first
half, which set the tone for the rest of the contest.

"We couldn't make layups, we couldn't make floaters, we couldn't
make jumpers," Hill said. "Nothing clicked. Give the Clippers
a lot of credit because I don't know what else to say."

The Clippers took their largest lead in the third quarter,
86-49, on Corey Maggette's three-point play with 1:35 left.
Brand scored 12 points in the period to pace Los Angeles.

"We had a lot of energy and we were able to make some plays,"
Kaman said. "(Defense) is always the key to our game. We need
to come out and play defense first and the offense will take
care of itself."

The 6-8 forward had it going all night, shooting 11-of-15 from
the floor on a variety of post-ups and short jumpers. Cassell
was 6-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-5 on 3-pointers.

"I just wanted to come out and set the tempo like I was doing
last year and take more shots," Cassell said. "We did a
magnificent job of team defense on Ray Allen."

Allen scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting for Seattle, which
shot 33 percent (25-of-76) and lost for just the second time in
its last six games.

"It doesn't happen very often but this might be the worst I've
ever been a part of," Hill said. "We just couldn't make a shot.
We got some pretty good looks early. They shot really well,
and it was pretty much over early."